Xenia YMCA is Reaching Our Community

By: Heather Bright

There is nothing better than that new-car smell. Fragrance companies even recreate it to sell to customers because we love it so much. Getting something new makes us feel good, whether we’ve earned it or it was gifted to us.

That’s how the city of Xenia feels about the new YMCA, part of the REACH Center in Xenia. The proof is in the numbers:

• Prior to 2019, the Xenia YMCA had approximately 4,500 members
• As of today, there are more than 11,000 members!!

If a new treadmill has a smell like a new car, Xenia and surrounding towns sure like it.

This new facility is so much more than an upgraded YMCA. It is a shared facility with organizations that REACH multiple generations. From programs that engage child and parent at the same time to a brand new senior center, people of all ages are enriching their mind, body and soul.

There is significance to a collaboration that serves both the young and the old. It creates a stronger sense of community. Even though the facility has separate spaces for each of these programs, people from various demographics inevitably interact. Allowing a child to interact with a senior citizen broadens the child’s scope of what the world looks like; and children naturally spark joy to senior citizens.

Faithful supporters of the YMCA understand the value of the local Y in their community. The YMCA’s partnership with other organizations takes that value to the next level. With a foundational mission to serve, the YMCA has found a way to link arms with other community leaders in a way that reaches and serves more people than ever before.

My family and I recently joined the Xenia Y for the first time. My kids love using the pool and are looking forward to starting sports classes, like gymnastics. My husband and I use the fitness center most often. If you’re like me and have little knowledge of fitness equipment beyond a treadmill, I encourage you to set up an appointment with one of the trainers. Alisia was not only able to get me set up with the ActivTrax Fitness Program, she helped me understand the strength training equipment in a way that the whole fitness center is now useful to me.

I believe the city of Xenia has yet to experience the full impact of the new YMCA in the REACH Center. And that new-car smell will not wear off anytime soon.